Author: Mary Claire Hill

So yeah, we're still in the hospital. Last time Oscar was released on day 4, and I'm pretty sure we'd have climbed out our 3rd floor window and escaped into Central Park if we'd not been let out the front door that day. Double tethers are more complicated than singles so we expected recovery to … Continue reading day 5

Oscar is a huge Oakland A's fan. He doesn't go anywhere without his A's hat, and is always wearing his A's socks, t-shirt, or sweatshirt—and sometimes all three. His bedroom is papered with player posters pulled from Athletics magazines and his bed is topped with the fleece A's blanket that Ruby made him a couple of years … Continue reading Oscar and the Oakland A’s

Oscar was feeling better by this evening. While he is still having bouts of lightheadedness and gas pain, his color and chatter have returned, and he has stopped complaining that his head hurts. What a relief. Our best guess, but we don't really know, is that the gas, plus sensitivity to the narcotics we were … Continue reading Improving

Oscar had a great night, sleeping a good chunk, but this morning he's lethargic and heavy-lidded, barely able to respond to simple questions. His belly is distended and he's sweaty and lightheaded. He's not that interested in liquids, even diluted apple juice, and we had to coax him to lick a grape popsicle. The abdominal … Continue reading Struggling

The last 24 hours have been all about balancing pain management and GI symptoms. We're trying to use fewer narcotic pain meds to prevent all the gastric issues he experienced last time. But that means that instead of pain levels of 0, 1, or 2, he's been getting into the 4-7 range frequently, with 4 … Continue reading Balancing Acts

It was a long day of waiting in the hotel lobby. Joel, Drs. ABC's physician assistant, kept us updated throughout the morning with texts. At 11:30am we learned that the revision of the lumbar curve was finished and that they were closing Oscar up, which would take an hour or more, and then they would … Continue reading Relief

They wheeled Oscar into surgery about an hour and a half ago. I didn't tear up this time, and he didn't say, "Don't worry Mom, I'll be okay" like last time either. Instead, he was anxious up until the last second, worried about the post-surgery constipation that was so debilitating last time—apparently the "happy juice" … Continue reading Surgery Day